As walkthroughs prove to be more and more in-depth, programmers (or at least, ones who care) are pressed to hide secrets in more convoluted ways, or in greater numbers. For instance, look at how ridiculously placed some of Brutal Legend's Bound Serpents were placed.

As the title says, Steam's brilliant Christmas sale is now on, and some frankly bonkers-brilliant sales are in there.

How about the LucasArts Adventure pack for £1.74? That's Indy Fate of Atlantis, Last Crusade, Loom and The Dig for probably the cheapest price they've ever been individually anywhere else, let alone all together! Even if you've got one of them, I think it's worth it.

Update by Kroms: You can pick up every game that Telltale has both made and self-published for $49.99. That's Tales of Monkey Island, Sam and Max Season One (Sam and Max Save the World), Sam and Max Season Two (Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space), Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures, Bone: Out of Boneville, Bone: The Great Cow Race and Telltale Texas Hold 'Em.

So, why did Telltale make the first two chapters of Jeff Smith's Bone but never continued then? Here's a possible explanation: the movie is well under way. The producer of the new Sherlock Holmes movie, Dan Lin, was talking to Collider about his future projects - of which Bone is one, well into production at Happy Feet creators Animalogic.

It's a (CGI presumably) animated movie, Jeff Smith is closely involved, they're meeting with directors now and hope to have one announced in January, and it (HOORAY!) won't be one movie. So, bought the books yet?

(Tingler's Side Note: although excited frankly I'm terrified about Lin and Animalogic's other project, a Tom & Jerry origin movie, which sounds like a terrible idea. Oh well, let's hope for good things)

Subscribed to the Telltale Newsletter? If you are, then check your email. (If not, subscribe here.) There's a bit of concept art of the concept of Sam and Max Season Three, including that of the space gorilla from space. Remember, my friends: future events such as these will affect you in the future, especially around the time that the game becomes available to buy.

Speaking of the future, why don't you save up for it by taking advantage of Telltale's holiday bundles? The future is where your future lies, and that is where you will need money the most: not the past, but the future (and the present).

(The future brought to you by one Ed Wood; space gorillas courtesy of the power to comprehend the inability to comprehend Sam and Max 2010.)

The last MojoCast of the year is finally available. The entirety of Tales of Monkey Island is discussed as jp-30 and elTee join the cast for the first time. It also serves as the first MojoCast to use g0blin's excellent jingle.

Thought we'd forgotten about Insecticide, the quirky shooter/adventure hybrid from Mike Levine and Larry Ahern? Never! And if you made the grievous error of not picking up the PC version, well good news - GamersGate are currently offering it 50% off at the low, low price of $7.49.

Bargain, although GamersGate fails to remind customers the sad fact that this is only Part One, with the second half stuck in limbo. Do the game a favour - pick it up, then when you've finished head over to the Crackpot videos page to complete the story - um, when Mike or Larry actually get round to sticking the remaining cutscenes up.

Let's just hope one day we get to end Chrys's case properly... and I don't mean on DS.

While the game's meager 7 million + customer base awaits with anticipation the recently announced sequel, LEC has released that totallyimpossible PC version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition on Steam and Direct2Drive this past Tuesday in an effort to reach out to the seven remaining gamers in its audience who've yet to discover it. (For the unaware, this "Ultimate Sith Edition" is a recent re-release with additional content.)

Packing a $39.99 price point and some steep minimum requirements, this is no download for the faint of heart. But if you've never played STFU, want to, and remain unfazed by the PC port's terrible reviews (though presumably this an improved, post-patch version), doing so has never been more convenient.

In other LucasArts news, IGN has awarded the special edition of Monkey Island "Adventure Game of the Year." Seems a bit off, given the competition, but hey, we'll take it.

Ace Mojo news reporter Kroms has dug up this story on Wired, which announces that a new chunk of downloadable content for Brütal Legend, titled Hammer of Infinite Fate, will be available on both PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 from December 17.

The new DLC will include a few extra achievements for players to quest after, several new outfits for Eddie Riggs, new paint jobs for his car the Deuce, and best of all, something called the "Oculus of the Lost," basically a GPS system for the Deuce which allows you to find hidden collectible items you haven't unlocked yet.

And for those who aren't afraid of some SPOILERS, the list of the new achievements is already online.

Congratulations to Goblin, who has won a free copy of A Vampyre Story, Bill Tiller's classic tale of gothic adventure, for his entry in our contest to create a jingle for our podcast.

You can hear goblin's winning entry here. It is a very catchy piece that sounds like it was created by real voodoo witch doctors. Nice work!

The lyrics are "zab-zab-zibbadaba-dubadaba-dubadaday-..Mixnmojo all up in thiiiiis....Be keepin' it real, yea you know it -The international House of mojo - You best be listening to our shooow! mixnmojo-mixnmojo-mixnmojo-mixnmojo-mixnmojo-mixnmojooo..."

We also have two runners-up, whose excellent jingles will also be used repeatedly in future podcasts.

BillieJoe86 did a lovely song with some musical quotes from the LucasArts games. The lyrics, for those who want to sing along, are:

"Grab some Grog XD and Gold LiquourAnd that mug you bought from LucasartsJust sit back and relaxIt's International Mojo Time!

Mix and mojo, mix, mix and mojo!Mix and mojo, mix, mix and mojo!Mix and mojo, the Mix, Mix and Mojo Podcast...!...is about to start!"

Lastly comes an impressively mixed medley of LucasArts themes by the talented Edward van Helgen from our forums. Listen to it here, and see if you can count all the themes that are blended so seamlessly together.

Thanks again to everyone who entered. We were all very impressed by the high level of quality in the entries we received.

I've always been hopelessly obsessed with all things Maniac Mansion since being a kid, and when you weigh in the nostalgic factor, it doesn't taste a lie to call it my favorite game of all time. It would appear that I am not the only person the franchise has had this effect on, as the fan scene surrounding the game has always been pretty remarkable. You're probably familiar with Maniac Mansion Deluxe, the 256 color remake from 2004. Lesser known projects include the likes of an ongoing series of micro spinoff games powered by AGS, a project dubbed Maniac Mansion Mania. A million years ago I even remember an inventive fan creating a playable, fully 3D environment of just the exterior of the mansion.

The latest example of impressively excessive fan devotion to the father of SCUMM is this, a new remake of the game observed in one of our forum threads. What makes this remake of the classic original Maniac Mansion worthwhile when an acclaimed one already exists?

That's right: it's being re-imagined in the style of Day of the Tentacle. You can see some sprites and animation tests here, as well as an open call for help. It's unclear how far along the effort is at the moment, the status being that "the backgrounds are almost done." Still, whether or not this remake will end up being completed, or end up being like 99% of all fan projects, the work seen so far is pretty impressive.

Mixnmojo has decked its halls with boughs of holly. The header image is partly made from an old Mixnmojo e-card, designed by Jake Rodkin, with stolen art from Bill Tiller and Steve Purcell, and a specially created santa hat by Dan Lee. The Christmasified logo was made by Goblin for us in 2007.

In other news, our jingles competition will end tonight at midnight London time. The entries will then be judged the board of examiners, and a result will be announced tomorrow.

Thanks very much for everyone who entered, and those who are still working until the last minute on their pieces of music!

I randomly stumbled upon this blog post that explores the relationship between Monkey Island, On Stranger Tides, and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and figured you might want to read it. The thought-provoking piece was written back in September, in response to the announcement that the fourth Pirates movie would in fact be based upon the Tim Power's novel.

The TMI Blog's unstoppable jubilee of Monkey Island voice actor interviews continues with a probe of the immensely talented Jared Emerson-Johnson, who you no doubt know as a composer, sound designer, and voice director whose resume includes games made by all of the studios Mojo covers.

In addition to sound design and voice direction, Emerson-Johnson's contributions to TMI include the voice of deranged French culturally variant scientist DeSinge, whose obsession with collecting Guybrush's pox-ridden hand caused our hero a number of inconveniences. The factoids he shares in the interview are not to be missed by those who aren't keen on missing something not worth missing out on.

Some UK-based site called Alternative Magazine Online has been publishing interviews with Dominic Armato wherein he reflects on the latest episode of Tales of Monkey Island. Naturally, this means we get to read his opinions and production stories for Rise of the Pirate God, as well as memories from his past, which seem to have been blissfully expunged of the stalking he incurred from Mojo readers:

When I did Curse and Escape, I chatted on IRC and did a couple of brief interviews with a couple of the hardcore Monkey Island fansites like The SCUMM Bar. A few months ago, I went to PAX, met a horde of people and had something like 20 interviews, some with pretty major gaming publications. No sneaking under the radar anymore!

While we may have reported on one or two of the previous interviews at the time, you really should read all five of them, and if you haven't, permit me to supply a hint book to your game of catch-up:

If you've ever listened our podcast, you will know that it is insightful, witty and delicious -- but you will perceive that it lacks any created jingles.

That's where you, our musically talented readers, come in. We would love to have a short piece of music (vocals are optional) that will work well as a pod cast opening. In fact, we'd love to have several: if you send us any kind of jingle that meets our (embarrassingly low) standards, then we'll add it to our jingle library and use it randomly. You will have immortality, and our eternal thanks.

Plus, as an extra incentive, we're giving away a copy of A Vampyre Story to the very best musical jingle. If you didn't grab a copy of AVS when it first came out, then you missed out on a real treat, as our review will testify.

Send your jingles to mojocontest@gmail.com by December 15th to be in with a chance of winning. Please also record in high quality (192 bitrate or higher, MP3 or FLAC).

To give you some inspiration, here are some jingles from other podcasts and radio shows:

For those of you wondering how the imminent new version of Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, updated with Earl Boen's voiceover work, will be made available, Telltale has answered your question in the latest issue of their newsletter.

"Earl Boen, the man who first gave a voice to the evil ghost/zombie/demon pirate in 1997 with Curse of Monkey Island™ has returned to play LeChuck in the final chapters of Tales of Monkey Island!

Plus, he's re-recorded lines for the prologue of "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal", which will be available on the Collector's DVD, and coming soon as an updated Chapter One download on our website!"

This should allay the concerns of those who feared that the TMI DVD would be the only option for hearing Earl in all his demonic glory.

We've already reported that Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, a game originally written in English and first released in Germany, will be "localized" to its native tongue by UK studio Mamba Games. As noted by the guy who noted it to The Pumpkin Post, a new product page posted by Mamba lists the game's minimum requirements as well as a release date, that date being March 26th. Do I spy a new screenshot?

The next step is presumably the announcement of a North American distributor, which hopefully won't lag too far behind. My fellow Americans can rest reasonably assured though that the English release will be getting a digital distribution release, and therefore any wait to play this game after the blokes in the UK do will be purely optional.

As is LucasArts MO these days, there has been an announcement that there will be a new Star Wars Game (well, I assume it's a game, it's not explicitely stated) announced at the 2009 Video Game Awards. The Spike TV event is on December 12th.

Here's the Announcement Announcement Teaser video:

If you're already doing YouTube stuff, you could do worse than have a peek at this video (it's not Mojo related, it's just EPIC WINness) if you're not already one of the 2 million+ who have watched it in the last day or so.

Update: Thanks for the tipoff black_sheep. This is probably the game, Star Wars Legends.

"Remember to grab the demo right here on Big Download next week Tuesday the 8th -- the original voice of LeChuck, Earl Boen, is back!"

A demo of *what* precisely? Remember that the original Tales demo was the beginning of Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, in which Adam Harrington substituted for Earl Boen as Demon LeChuck.

Could this mean that Telltale will be replacing the old release of Narwhal with the new, Earl Boen-filled version (which was already foreshadowed in this trailer) on Tuesday, at the same time as Rise of the Pirate God comes out?

Let the speculation commence!

(Also, while you're at it, do check out this Chapter 5 preview, which contains a few new screenshots. Beware of SPOILERS therein, though.)

UPDATE: elTee has thoughtfully pointed out that the same article we linked to above (and scandalously skimped on reading) indicates that Tuesday's demo is in fact of Chapter 5 gameplay. So Earl Boen in Narwhal might not be coming so soon as we first thought. There's always the DVD...

In an interview with GamePro (spotted by Eurogamer), Tim Schafer confirms that more DLC for Brütal Legend is on the way - both multiplayer and single-player, hopefully continuing the rather abrupt end to the story.

There's also Tim's explanation for the very late announcement of the game's strategy elements, Tim's major gaming influence on BL, and why Tim Curry played Doviculus. Obligatory second linkage!

Telltale Games are giving out codes this weekend, which I think are $10 discounts on stuff you buy. It's never really said. (Edit: scratch that, I was right, as Telltaler nikasaur confirms in the comments.) You'll need to follow them on Twitter and be ready to snatch-up the code as soon as it gets released, as the codes are one-use only have limited use. I think? Even that's speculation. Anyways, follow.

The real reason for this update, however, is to endorse the idea that you should follow the Mixnmojo Twitter account. Our Twitter feed is automatically updated by the magic of technology, using a mysterious method that scientists have agreed to call "amazing". To see the magic in action, follow Mixnmojo.

Earlier this week Telltale demoed the finale of Tales of Monkey Island, Rise of the Pirate God, to the press as part of a formal wake for Guybrush Threepwood, complete with remembrance photos/wristbands, a slideshow of the series' history, and even a eulogy delivered by Dave Grossman. If only we could have been there.

Though you've probably seen most of what was shown (those three screenshots, some light story spoilers) and may have even read one of the write-ups by now, Telltale has thoughtfully collected the previews that came out of the event of mourning for your convenience.

Close enough. Wanna buy some Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God screenshots and concept art? Right now I'm selling them for the very low price of free!

Just come on down to our Tales of Monkey Islandscreenshots gallery and our concept art gallery, where you'll find the latest and greatest images on display. Caveat emptor, though, for SPOILERS lurk within....

Don't forget, the full game comes out on Tuesday, December 8!

(This message brought to you by wholesale distributor AlfredJ on IRC.)

...we're also very interested in taking characters out of the adventure game genre and creating all new games and experiences with them. Nintendo has done a fantastic job of this with their characters over the years and I would hope that we'll get an opportunity to do the same.

And this...

I feel part of the reason we're still talking about Monkey Island 20 years after its initial release is due to the "secret" not being revealed. Leaving it mysterious and ambiguous I feel is part of the charm. However, I also think we owe the fans a bit of closure around the "secret" and hope that we have the opportunity to reveal it in a perhaps unexpected way soon.

The Tales of MI Blog has a new interview up with another Monkey Island voice actor - Nicki Rapp, the pipes behind the well-received Morgan LeFlay, pirate hunter and Guybrush Threepwood's biggest fan/traitor in Tales of Monkey Island. You may also know Rapp as the voice of Lili in Psychonauts. And she is going to kill you so much if you don't read.